The Community and Professionalism UGA App
Lauren Girod, Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, University of Georgia, English, 3rd year
Coming to university is a difficult time for anyone, and making friends can be one of the biggest issues someone can face. With DawgConnect, UGA students can link up with one another based on their personal interests, club and organization affiliations, and professional profiles.
Students select from a variety of hobbies and interests and rank them on a sliding scale from moderate interest to greatest interest. This, along with other qualifiers such as majors and minors, organizations, and prior event attendance, allows them to connect with other individuals that share the aforementioned interests, and for them to match with others that they may not have met yet.
With the UGA Student Involvement Network, clubs and organizations have the option to have a presence on the platform, and can be visible as a way for recruitment to people who may be looking for a larger group of people to interact with that share a particular interest or hobby. Approval may be needed in the event of a group such as a Greek Life group or individual group leadership, but users would know more about who they are engaging with.
The sliding scale method allows users to present a greater emphasis on multiple topics if need be, and the scale can then be utilized to match users on a finer level. This can also be used for organizations throughout the UGA Student Involvement Network to match with students that are open to joining in their efforts depending on the topics that they have as an interest. UGA event registration can be displayed as well, which allows another way for students to connect before, during, and after the events.
This application fills a niche of students struggling to find their place within the social aspect of university and connects members of the Bulldog Nation that have yet to meet one another to forge friendships and professional relationships that will last a lifetime.